Box press



Patented Jan. 15, i924.

'I'TED STATES ATENE' iQfFFlCE..

FRANK W. CUTLER, F TORTLAD, 03h/EGONj ASSIGNOR TO 'C U'TLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, A PARTNERSHIP COMPOSED .OF FRANK W. ,CUTLER .AND ASA B. CUTLER, BOTH OF PORTLAND, OREGON. i

'BOX PB/ESS.

Application led November 419, 1920. Serial'No. `25,067.

T o all whom t may concern.'

.Be it know-n that I, FRANK lV. Crimean, a citizen of the United States, and a residentof Portland, county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Box Presses, of which `the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ymachines commonly called box presses designed for forcing down the cover ,of a Wooden box,

such as kused for packing apples, .and holding the :same in place While being nailed down.

These presses nsually include a table on which the box is supported in place tor being operated upon by the press; and, `as heretotore generally constructed, it was necessary for the box to be moved along lthe full length of the table, that is, over :one end into place, and off the other end; the cover-holding Work, however Was done in the middle of the tab-le. YThe time consumed in moving the boi: from the middle of the table over the far `end of the latter was considerable.

One of the objects l,of my invention is `.to eliminate such waste of time by providing an improved press. of simple construction, so arrange-d that `as soon as the box has had its Acov-.er nailed down, it may be pushed ott' the table backwards troni the middle .off the latter onto aconveyor provided to receive it.

A further object of my invention is so to construct the means as to assure holding ythe cover firmly down on the box top, -While being nailed thereon. In .order to .attain this result it is necessary that said means are adapted to adjust themselves to any trans,

verse unevenness in the surface ot the cover.

Such unevenness is frequently present, be cause the covers are very apt to be made .of pieces varying in thickness, and hence, the thinner piece would not be held firmly in place.

A still further object of my invention is that the pressure .of the holding means will he applied to the ends of the cover.. and'only along a narrow transverse surface portion thereof, Which assures that the cover will be firmly held in place during the nailing Ioperation notwithstanding the convexity ot the cover due to the saine bearing on pieces of fruit projecting vover the top of the sides oi the box.

I attain my object in a press having cover holding Idevices so .arranged that they will normally .stand -clear of the box when placed in position on the table` and after 'having been operated to force the cover down said devices will again, automatically', motte to bear firmly notwithstanding variations in the thickness of the cover.

My invention furthermore provides a stron-g and ettic'iently operating boX-press.

The novel combination ot parts by which l .attain the above stated and inciden-tal teatures are hereinafter fully described.

In .the .accompany-ing drawings, referred to in such description,

Fig. l .is-1a perspectit/fe view looking at the front of `my box-press. The devices for forcing and holding the cover of the box down on the body of the box vare shown in full lines, Where not covered by ,other parts,

in the positions which they assume when they have been operated to bear :down :upon and hold the box-.cover in Eplace vvhile being nailed down; the box ,and its cover xare shown in ybroken outline, and said .cover operating .devices ane also 'partly shown in broken loutline in their initial or normal positions;

Fig. 2 shows `a rear ,side elevation, ony a smaller scale, of box-press, the ends 'of the .table being :broken away;

F ig. 3 shows a fragmentary rear yside elevation. `ot my box-press, showing the operating Vparts as positioned when the treadle or foot-lever has been depressed;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation Lot .my .box-,press corresponding with Fig- 2, and looking in the direction indicatedby the arrow 4 i-n latter ligure;

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a side elevation and top view of a convenient type of Wheeled conveyor to be attached .to the receiving end oi the table ot my press for nioring the box tonto the latter;

Fig. 7 shows a detail ot construction of the guide o; and

Figs. 8 .and 9 show details of construction of the cla-Ws 1' pivoted to the arms g.

elements for properly positioning the box with respect to the means for holding the cover of the box in place during the nailing operation. lThe alining element z' is shown only in Fig. l.

On the frame members a is mounted vertically slidable a horizontal bar conveniently made of two members as shown in Fig. l. To the ends of this horizontal bar j are fastened the lower ends of the coil *springs 7c, 7c', the upper ends of which are fastened to perforated lugs Z by devices providing for the adjustment of the tension of the spring, as shown in Figs. l and 4.

On the frame-member a2 (see Fig. l) is pivoted a treadle or foot-lever m, on which is pivoted a pawl n controlled by a spring n (see Fig. et) and adapted for engagement with a rack 0 on framemember a3. The

Y treadle is connected through the medium of a lever-anddinlrs element p with said horizontal vertically movable bar On the latter bar are pivoted arms g and Q, the upper ends g2 of which are bent horizontally, and to such upper ends are pivoted horizontal claws r adapted to overlie the ends of the box s when said arms g and Q are thrown y into vertical position. The claws r may thus tions in thickness of the boards composing adapt themselves to any unevennesses in the upper surface of the box cover due to variathe box cover. Furthermore the faces of the claws r of the arms g and g are beveled to one side, as illustrated at r in Figs. l, 3 and 9 so that when the claws bear down on the top of the cover t of the box adjacent to the cleats a, they will not interfere with the nailing of the cleats in place.

On the upper ends of the frame-members a is carried a guide i) for the arms g and g,

such guide being preferably made of two bars one of which is an angle iron, and in such guide are jourualled cam-rollers w. (idee detail Fig. 7.) The arms Q and q are provided with cams ai, the lower faces of which are adapted, in cooperation with the cam-rollers lw of the guide o, to move the arms g and g together when the latter arms are given a downward pull.

Said arms g and Q initially, and normally, stand in inclined positions, and when moved together assume a vertical position; and when said arms have been moved into vertical positions the claws r will be posileccese tioned to bear down upon the ends of the box-cover. By then bearing down with the foot upon the treadle m, the box-cover is forced into place as illustrated in F-ig.-3, ready for nailing, the nails being driven through the cleats u. See also in Fig. 1, in wnich the box, its cover, and the cleats 'u are shown in broken outline.

Upon the release of the treadle, m, and the lifting of the horizontal bar by the springs 7c and 7c', the arms g and q will be pulled back into their inclined position, thus out of the way of the box, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and also by broken outlines in Fig. l, thereby clearing the box and permitting the same to be thrown back over the rail h on to a suitable conveyor.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my box-press is contrived to facilitate and expedite the cover nailing work, since the box, after having its cover nailed on, does not have to be moved the full length of the table but may be thrown off the latter on to a conveyor, not shown, but in practice located at the middle of the back of my box-press, and usually extending at right angles therefrom, and thus saving the time which would be consumed in requiring the box to be moved from ther middle of the table over the end e.

I claim:

l. In a box press, a table, a pair of arms located at one side yof the table, said arms being movable vertically, and also together and apart, the upper ends of the arms being provided with portions extending horizontally cross-wise of, and above the table top, means normally holding the arms uplifted and spaced apart, means for pulling the arms downward, means moving the arms together while moved downward, said arms being so adapted that a box may be moved lengthwise over the table top under `their said lhorizontal arm-portions, and also pushed across, and from the table between the arms, when the latter are arranged in their saidy normal position.

2. In a box press, a table, a pair of piv-` oted, vertically movable arms, located at one side of the table, the upper ends of the arms being provided with portions extending horizontally cross-wise of, and above the table top, means normally holding the arms uplifted and spaced apartat an angle with each other, means for pulling the arms downward, means throwing the arms into parallelism while moved downward, said arms being so adapted that a box may be moved lengthwise over the,y table top under vtheir said horizontal arm-portions, and also pushed across, and from the table between the arms, when the latter are arranged'in p their said normal position.

FRANK W. OUTLER.

lll) 

